The study is based on Transit Authority figures compiled last April for average bus speeds recorded at 5 p.m.

The data also shows that the top 10 slowest bus routes in the city are in Manhattan.

“If you’re a New Yorker who depends on buses to get around, then you’re not living in the fast lane,” Russianoff said.

Some 2.6 million people ride TA buses on an average weekday.

The groups also found that 19 routes scattered across the city are slower than most regular Amtrak service between New York and Philadelphia.

The M15, which runs from East Harlem to lower Manhattan, can take one hour and 31 minutes from start to finish. In comparison, a regular afternoon Amtrak trip between New York and Philadelphia is scheduled to take one hour and 15 minutes.

“It should not take as long as 10 miles from downtown to Harlem by bus as it does the 110 miles from New York City to Philadelphia by Amtrak,” Russianoff said.

The TA said the bus routes singled out “operate through dense traffic, under elevated structures and past major traffic tie-ups – all recipes for slow bus service.”

Commuters who ride the M34 said they need some fast relief.

“Trying to get a bus is always bad,” said James Restrepo, 39, a lawyer from Valley Stream, L.I., who takes the bus every day to and from Penn Station. “Even when you do get it, then it takes forever to go just a few blocks.”

Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to hold five hearings on the agency’s proposed fare hike and service cuts, officials said.

“This schedule will give a chance to people all over the city to attend the hearings,” said MTA spokesman Tom Kelly.

Bus-ted

According to the NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign and Transportation Alternatives, these are the slowest bus routes in each borough according to the speed they average at 5 p.m., as estimated by the MTA New York City Transit:

BOROUGH ROUTE SPEED (MPH) AREA

Brooklyn B63 5.4 Between Bay Ridge and Cobble Hill

Bronx Bx13 5.2 Between Yankee Stadium in the Bronx and Upper Manhattan

Manhattan M34 4.0 Cross-town on 34th Street

Queens Q24/Q32 6.9 Between Jamaica and Bushwick; Jackson Heights and Penn Station